Shuffle me
by P0LAROID
Summary: Eren receives a beautiful gift from his older sister, Mikasa. It is an IPod touch. Eren was overly happy with his present and enjoyed every sound the gadget made. One day the IPod starts to play songs that do not exist in his song list. Eren thinks his IPod is malfunctioning. But is it really malfunctioning? ( Pairings: Levi x Eren Jean x Marco And many more! )
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I want to thank Hayasaka Shion for the beta-ing she has done :). The chapters may be updated irregularly because I am in my senior year of high school. I will finish this story, I'll promise so stay tuned!  
**

* * *

**Shuffle me  
**

"Happy Birthday!" Mikasa smiled brightly. Eren stared at the green package in her hands. He looked up and tilted his head slightly.

''W—What is it?'' Eren said, his voice wavering.

'' Your present!'' Mikasa shoved the package into Eren's hands. The green-eyed kid's eyes were questioning the very moment. They never had enough money to celebrate anyone's birthday; that was something they had accepted a long while ago. Their mother had passed away because of a car crash, their father simply ran away. Since then Mikasa had worked her way through college, even acquiring a stable part-time job. She had told Eren never to worry about the finances. Eren knew Mikasa was sacrificing her youth for him, and that was something he would forever remember.

''Open it up!'' Mikasa ruffled Eren's hair. She was curious to see his reaction. It had taken her a while to get it for him, but she was sure that he would love the present. It was something that represented his soul, something he loved doing.

Eren's fingers started to undo the green wrapping around the package. He somehow felt his heart rate increase. It had been years since he had last received a present on his birthday, and it wasn't like he minded. Mikasa was his dear sister.

Eren tossed the green wrapping into the bin, and his teal-green eyes scanned the brown box in front of him. He opened it up just to see something he would have never expected. His eyes widened.

''Mikasa, I can't accept this…'' Eren said, his eyes looking up to meet Mikasa's.

''Eren, I told you not to worry about the finances,'' Mikasa answered sternly. She wanted him to enjoy his youth in her place. He was always selfless, he would never ask for anything.

''B—But... an iPod is way too expensive!'' He looked back at the item in the box. It was something he wished for every single night, but he couldn't accept something so luxurious.

''Don't worry about it. I bought it at a second-hand store. It's in mint condition though,'' Mikasa smiled gently. The thought that it wasn't new assured Eren. A new iPod touch would cost around 40,000 yen. That was something they couldn't afford at all. Eren smiled slightly and wrapped his arms around Mikasa's neck.

''I love you, sis,'' He whispered.

* * *

**Timeskip: A week later, at home.**

Eren loved his new iPod touch. It was the best present anyone could have ever gotten for him. Eren had a thing for music. It was something that could calm him down when days were tough. It was something that had cheered him up on a daily basis. He never left his iPod alone+, afraid it would magically disappear.

''What song should I play now?'' Eren smiled to himself. His long index finger scrolled through the meager music list. He had no computer at home, so the only way how he could add songs was at school. He had to download the .mp3 files in an illegal way, but he didn't mind.  
Eren placed his iPod onto his nightstand. He was tired. He wanted to take a short power-nap in order to feel better. However, before his mind went to dreamland, something strange happened.

''_Somebody help me please,  
'cause this is an emergency  
she pulls me like gravity  
and now I'm floating off the ground_,''

His iPod started to play a song he didn't recognize at all. Eren sat up and looked at the way the screen of his new gadget started to flicker. He felt a shiver go through his spine. Was it normal for it to act like this? He crawled over his futon towards his small wooden nightstand. He looked at the screen, and noticed that the music had stopped.

''Weird,'' Eren muttered, unlocking his iPod. He couldn't find the song that had played, so he wrote it off as a bug in the operating system. He wasn't sure how it could play a non-existent song though. He hurriedly grabbed an old notebook and wrote down the lyrics the iPod just played. He kind of liked the song, it was sweet.

* * *

**Timeskip: two weeks later, at school.**

''Get your ass off my seat, Jaeger,'' Eren felt the guy grip his shoulder. The guy in question had short, light ash-brown hair with the sides and back a darker brown color, and cut shorter than the top. His eyes were small yet intense, even more when he was mad. His name was Jean.

''Is your name on this seat?'' Eren responded, unplugging one of his earpieces. Jean felt the blood creep to his cheeks out of anger. The teal-eyed boy always managed to push his buttons the wrong way.

''Jaeger, you bastard!'' Jean swung his fist towards Eren's face. Eren looked up in surprise and felt the hard knuckles hit his jaw. He fell onto his back, and for a moment he could see Jean's guilt-ridden face, however the ash-blond recovered his expression immediately.

''T—That's what you get!'' Jean shouted, turning around, taking his feet to the door. Of course he felt guilty. He wasn't the type to get aggressive that easily… well perhaps he was, however he would never hit someone out of nowhere without a legit reason. He hated Eren Jaeger; he was a pretty boy who always received the attention of the person Jean desired. His hatred for Jaeger started on the first semester in fifth grade.

* * *

**Flashback**

_''You may choose a partner to conduct the chemical experiments with!'' the teacher gleefully announced. The children started to walk around, finding their partner. Jean knew exactly who he wanted. His eyes rolled towards the side, eyeing a certain freckled boy called Marco. Jean gulped softly and decided to gather all his courage and ask him._

_''M—Marco! Would you like to—'' Jean was cut off by a certain teal-eyed boy._

_''Marco, do you want to be my lab partner?'' Eren asked casually._

_''Sure,'' Marco answered, raising the corner of his lips._

_''Ah, were you saying something, Jean?'' Marco tilted his head slightly, turning his head to Jean._

_''N—Nah,'' Jean nervously laughed and backed away. It was always like this. Eren always did this, as if he wanted to bother Jean for fun._

_''Marco, do you want to be my lab partner? I am stupid and I look like a chick, but I reaaally want you to be my partner!'' Jean mimicked, though nobody heard him do so. He hated Eren. He always chose Marco, and Marco always chose Eren. It was always like that._

* * *

Eren placed his hand on his cheek, it felt swollen.

''Jaeger, can you stand up?'' A short haired blond said whilst extending his hand. His name was Reiner. He always acted like he was the ally of Justice, and Eren hated it.

''I don't need your help,'' Eren slightly frowned as he stood up. It earned a few disgusted looks thrown his way. He hated the fake pity he received from the people around him at school. They knew he was being targeted by Jean's gang, but they never helped. Only when Jean was out of sight would they would act as if they cared.

''You guys are all hypocrites!'' Eren shouted out loud, feeling the tears burning in the corner of his eyes, threatening to roll down.

''Reiner only tried to help!'' Some girls started to walk towards Eren. That bunch of chickens knew nothing. They didn't know the pain of being bullied with no reason. Eren placed his sweaty palm against his swollen cheek.

He walked out of the classroom, his hand pressed against his cheek. He hated this class, he hated his school and most of all; he hated Jean.

* * *

**Timeskip: Home , after school**

A few minutes after he got home, Eren's finger was hurriedly pressed onto the screen of his IPod touch. The chosen song started to play.

''_No one talks to him_  
_he feels so alone._  
_He's in too much pain_  
_To survive on his own_''

(Superchick – Hero )

Eren pushed his head into his fluffy pillow. He could feel the cotton cloth around his pillow dampening. His tears were warm, and quite comforting to him.  
Before he'd entered his room, he made sure that Mikasa wasn't at home. He would never let her find out his current situation at his school. She had done enough for him, and he didn't want to trouble her any more than he already was.

The song was implying that people should stand up, and help people who need it. Eren deeply wished for his hero to appear.

''As if,'' Eren muttered, his face still stuck into his pillow. He knew that no one would ever stand up for him in front of Jean. No one would dare to risk their own safety for him. Even his friends left him after he was pronounced a bully victim.

''_I can be your hero baby_  
_I can kiss away the pain_  
_I will stand by you forever_  
_You can take my breath away_ ''

(Enrique Iglesias - Hero )

Eren shot up, his eyes wide. The song had changed, into a song that answered the previous one. He whipped his head towards the iPod which lay beside him on the futon.

''W—Wha...'' Eren muttered; he could see the screen flicker. The iPod said that it was still playing the song he had chosen, however it wasn't doing so.

It was the second time in a few weeks that the iPod had automatically changed the song it was playing. It had changed to a song that wasn't in Eren's music list.

**Something was wrong with the iPod.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I want to thank Hayasaka Shion for the beta-ing she has done :). The chapters may be updated irregularly because I am in my senior year of high school. I will finish this story, I'll promise so stay tuned!**

* * *

_''W—Wha...'' Eren muttered. He could see the screen flickering. The iPod said that it was still playing the song he had chosen, however it wasn't doing so. Eren's eyes scanned the screen, trying to find a clue of what might be causing the malfunction. He raised his brow as he couldn't find any such cause._

* * *

**Time skip: One day later, school**

Eren sat down behind the computer in the library. He was determined to find out what was causing his iPod to malfunction, thus he went on the internet to find out more.

''Resetting might work... '' he silently thought to himself, after he scrolled through a list of recommended tutorials, he clicked on the tutorial with the best rating, and followed each step perfectly until he was at the 'settings' menu.

''Huh?'' His teal eyes widened in surprise. He couldn't find the 'factory reset' icon that was shown on the screenshot of the tutorial. He went to the 'Frequently Asked Questions' page, and found out that he should've first checked the software on his iPod.

He once again followed the directions given. His finger slid its way to the 'about' section and pressed it. He did not see what he'd expected. The website told him that he would be able to see the software version plus his iPod generation number. Instead, there was only one word or rather, a name; **'LEVI'**. There was no other information except for that single name.

After several hours of searching the net, Eren decided it was enough for the day. He didn't understand why the iPod he had was different from the others. He had checked the serial number with the company, and it was a legit iPod.

* * *

**Time Skip: Twenty minutes, Hallway**

Eren placed the earpieces into his ear, listening to a classic piano piece. It was something he usually did if he was deep in thoughts. His mind started to make up all kinds of scenarios in his head. What if his iPod was haunted? He simply shivered at the thought. He stared at the black screen.

''Just what is it…'' he started to wonder. It didn't look any different from a normal iPod Touch. He had an idea; he had to go to the official Apple Store. He raised his arm and checked the watch. He still had two hours before dinner time. He texted his sister Mikasa, saying he was going to be later than usual.

* * *

**Time Skip: Forty minutes later, Apple Store**

''The iPod Touch has a legit serial number, even the software is ours. However, we could not pinpoint the problem. It has not been jailbroken, nor has the software been tampered with. I am afraid we cannot help you with this. You might be able to send it back, but since you don't have a warranty anymore, it will cost at least 20,000 yen just to scan for mistakes in the programming.''

Eren sighed deeply as he walked out of the store. It was not worth paying that much for. At least the iPod was able to function normally at times. He headed home.

* * *

**Time Skip: Home**

''Welcome home!'' Mikasa shouted, whilst cooking dinner.

''Mm,'' Eren immediately walked up the stairs. He has been avoiding Mikasa for a day now, the swollen cheek had gotten slightly better, but there still was a bruise. If he were to show Mikasa the bruise she might start to worry.

When he was in his room, he started working on his homework. He had placed the iPod on his desk, it was charging. Eren was not bad at schoolwork, he was a straight-A student, with occasional B+'s. He was staring at the formulas he had to solve before tomorrow. It was hard for him to concentrate, he was quite tired.

His attention was caught by the light that he could see in the corner of his eye. He knew it was coming from the iPod. He whipped his head towards the gadget and noticed that it was unlocked. He had put a pin-lock on it, yet it managed to get past that easily.

''Huh…'' He whispered. He felt his heart rate increase when he saw the gadget sliding through the home-screen pages by itself. It stopped at the second page. It didn't do anything for a whole minute, Eren was surprised and anxious. He didn't want to touch it, because his curiosity was getting the better of him. He wanted to know if something else was going to happen, but in the past thirty minutes, nothing had.

He was nearly done with his homework. It had taken him a while since his mind was elsewhere. Was it possible for an iPod to malfunction like that? It seemed real far-fetched to him.

* * *

**Timeskip: Dinner**

''Eren! I'm going out now, the dinner's in the fridge!'' Mikasa shouted. Eren was quite hungry, thus he waited for Mikasa to leave the house first. After he was certain she wouldn't suddenly come back, he went down the stairs. He walked to the fridge and grabbed the pizza out of its box. He was too lazy to heat it up; cold pizza wasn't that bad. At least it wasn't frozen.  
Eren giggled softly to himself. He ate in peace, and later went to the living room to turn on the TV.

''Damn it, where's the controller?'' he cussed. After a while he found the black controller underneath the sofa. He sat down and sighed deeply. It was nice to relax once in a while. His school life wasn't the best, and he had no friends to talk with. The only person who could be considered his friend was Armin, but he had gone to another school. They sometimes went out together to grab a bite, or to play games at the arcade. They were childhood friends, thus they were quite close.

''I wonder how he is doing…'' Eren thought. He had not spoken to him for over a week, but that was to be expected. Armin went to a private school and was bearing the high expectations of his grandfather. He was the next in line to run his grandpa's company. It made Eren feel a bit lonely at times. He wished for a person that would simply listen and have fun with him.

''Ah—'' Eren slapped his cheek, in a soft manner. He didn't want to feel depressed, he was stronger than that. He had promised himself that every time he would think about a depressing or negative thought, he would 'correct' himself. It was quite funny to him.

He turned on the T.V. and sat back. He was watching 'Tom and Jerry' his favourite classic. He liked it because there was no dialogue, only sound effects and background music. It was relaxing, and he felt a wave of nostalgia hit his mind.

He was deep in thoughts when he suddenly heard a continuous sound come from upstairs. It made him feel a shudder go through his spine. It was as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice-cold water over his body. He shot up, and ran upstairs, knocking a few items out the way. He opened his room and quickly walked over to his desk.

He didn't see anything out of ordinary. The screen of his iPod was black, as if nothing had happened. Eren scratched the back of his head. It was as if he had imagined it. He sighed deeply, and turned around. When he closed the door behind him, he could hear the continuous sound play again. It was a long beep, as if something was lagging. Eren felt a huge wave of anxiety hit his heart as he opened the door. He ran towards the iPod and removed the charger from the socket.

Once again, there was no evidence of there being anything out of ordinary. Eren felt all the anxiety being replaced by rage; he even felt a vein pop.

''Oi! Stupid thing, are you playing with me!?'' He shouted. He stared intensely at the black screen before him, the iPod laying peacefully in his palm. He gritted his teeth as he frowned. It was annoying him. Was he really imagining the sound? Or was it reality? Was it mere coincidence that the sound stopped when he went into his room? Or was it something the iPod had planned?

''I feel stupid…'' Eren sighed out loud. He placed the iPod onto the nightstand, as he sat down on his futon. He stared out of his window; the weather sucked in his opinion. He couldn't wait for it to become summer. He disliked the cold, it wasn't really comforting.

_''somebody help me please,  
cuz this is an emergency—''_

Eren could feel his heartbeat grow loud; he whipped his head towards the nightstand. He couldn't believe that it was doing the same thing all over again.

This time, the song was cut short, but he heard it clearly. The iPod had played a song of its own accord. Not only that, it also chose the exact same lyrics as the previous time. He started to replay the lyrics in his head.

''Help me please, this is an emergency..?'' Eren whispered. He stood up and looked at the iPod's screen. It was flickering slightly as it showed the wrong time. Now that he thought about it, the time was always wrong. It never showed the right time, even after he'd reset it.

''Do you want me to help you with something?'' Eren carefully said, staring at the flickering screen. The screen stopped flickering, but that was all it did. Eren raised his brow.

''Talk to me, damn it!'' He started to feel desperate. He shook the iPod slightly, tapping the screen with his free hand.

''What is wrong with this thing?'' Eren asked impatiently.

* * *

The brat started to annoy him. He had sent so many hints, though Eren simply wouldn't notice. He had spent quite some time with the kid already, but Eren never noticed the beating heart in the core of the music player.

''Why can't you hear me?'' He said. It was hard for him to communicate with the younger one. It drained a lot of his energy. He didn't understand why he was stuck in a music player; he had no memories at all. His limbs were chained to a non-existent wall of darkness. The only source of light was the huge square hole where he could see the outside world.

''Come back here!'' He shouted, but Eren fled the scene. There he was, laying on the nightstand as always. The only thing he could see was a ceiling; it annoyed the crap out of him.

''Oh— He's back.'' the smaller man thought. He blew the hair out of his face, trying to get a better look at Eren's face. He noticed the big teal eyes that were simply mesmerizing. He shook his head; it was not the time to think about any of that.

''If I catch the motherfucker who did this to me...''

His slightly slanted eyes were glaring at the boy outside. He needed to find a way to communicate with the retard. The iPod would sometimes choose a song according to his mood, or message. He also succeeded in manipulating the screen for a few seconds, though he felt extremely tired afterwards.

**His name was _Levi_, once human, now machinery**.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is shorter than usual! (I don't think I will write it that short ever again (_ _ ) Sorry! ) **

**I am sorry that I was later with updating than usual. I had a lot of stuff to do ( studying ), and I have 9 days left to study for a lot of tests soo... I apologise in advance hehe xD**

**Please enjoy, and suggestions are always welcome. This chapter is going to be beta'd by Hayasaka Shion! (Thank you) There might be some things I am going to change, not sure of it yet.**

**For now, enjoy reading, and please tell me what you thought about it!**

* * *

**Timeskip: Home ( 3 A.M. )**

Eren couldn't sleep at all. He was staring at the gadget he held in his hands. He decided that he'd check the settings out; perhaps there was something that could explain the weird things that had happened.

'' There it is again..'' Eren thought. After he had pressed the icon called 'About' he read the name again.

''Levi..?'' Eren whispered. The screen flickered once when he said that name. Eren sat up onto his futon and felt his heart beat faster. Was his IPod really possessed?

'' Why are you in here? '' He waited for an answer yet he didn't receive anything. Eren sighed softly and tried it again.

'' Why are you in here… Levi?'' He could feel the gadget in his cool palm turn warmer for a millisecond. He knew that it was reacting to him. Was there something stuck in his IPod? No, that couldn't be. There was no way that—

The IPod started to slide through the homepages. It stopped at the third one, and selected an icon called 'Voice Memo'. The red button called 'Record' was being pressed by an invisible force.

Eren felt the dryness in his throat. He was not able to do anything; he only stared. The recording suddenly stopped. The recording was 5 seconds long. Eren kept staring for a few moments before he decided to check out the recording. He felt his index finger tremble as it slid across the screen in a swift movement. What was he expecting?

_'Play recording'  
_  
'' …Eren t—''

A deep voice was heard by Eren. Eren threw his IPod across the room and hid beneath his blankets. There was no way that just happened. There was no way that his IPod was possessed. There was no way that the being in his IPod was intelligent. There simply was no way, was there?

* * *

'' Stupid brat..'' Levi whispered. He had wasted a lot of energy just to record a message, and that kid was not even listening to half what he'd said. He hated kids, especially wimpy ones like Eren.

'' Get back here, stupid retard'' Levi cussed. He knew Eren couldn't hear him, but what else could he do? He needed Eren in order to escape this electric prison. He sighed and closed his eyes. Somehow he knew that whatever he did, would result in the same thing; nothing.

* * *

Eren was scared. He closed his eyes and started to wish for it to go away, something he'd always do when he was scared of something, for as long as he could remember.

'' Go away, please, leave me alone!'' Eren whimpered. He closed his eyes shut and pulled his knees against his chest. He was afraid. Who or what possessed his IPod?

Eren felt his heart almost stop when he started to hear the IPod emit a sound. It was a gentle tune, something that sounded as if it was trying to comfort him. Eren felt his heart slow down as the tune flowed like water through his mind. It was a beautiful piece of music that calmed his mind. Even though he didn't forget about the creepy gadget, it still soothed his fear.

Eren raised his head from beneath the covers and watched how the abandoned IPod lit up in the dark. The song kept playing, as if it was making sure that Eren would keep calm.

'' Are you.. Trying to comfort me?'' Eren whispered, feeling his throat tighten. He didn't know what to say. The Ipod was conscious of its actions, and even reacted to them. Was it possible that Eren had hurt the feelings of whatever being was in there?

'' Y—You're not going to harm me are you?'' Eren said, feeling a bit afraid.

The tune stopped, and the light of the IPod dimmed before it went black.

* * *

**Timeskip: Next morning, Weekend day**

'' I broke the screen…'' Eren whispered as he kneeled next to the IPod which he'd thrown against the wall last night. He didn't mean to break it. Somehow, he felt guilty.

'' Sorry '' Eren muttered as he gently placed the IPod into his palm. He didn't know why he apologized, he simply felt that he had to.

'' I didn't mean to harm you..'' Eren gently tried to wipe a smudge off the broken screen The IPod was still functional; the cracks weren't that bad. As his thumb moved across the cracks, he noticed that a clear red liquid leaked out of his thumb. He had accidently cut his thumb with one of the cracks. The blood traveled between the cracks, and disappeared, though Eren didn't notice.

* * *

**Timeskip: 10 minutes later**

'' This will do it'' Eren sighed softly. He had cleaned the cut and placed a pink Band-Aid on top of it. He had no other choice, Mikasa refused to buy another color.

* * *

Levi had opened his eyes for the first time that day. He felt a few drops of liquid fall onto his pale skin. He groaned, and tried to stretch his limbs, but it was no use.

'' I am still stuck in this fucking hell..'' Levi sighed deeply. He fell asleep last night after he had used up all his energy. It was hard for him to try to communicate with the kid. He had scared the shit out of the bright-eyed brat, which made it even worse.

Levi crinkled his nose as he tried to remove the ticklish feeling the heavy drops of liquid caused. He could feel the heavy drop slide down his cheek towards the corner of his mouth. Levi was a curious type, thus he made sure his tongue would catch a slight bit of the liquid, and so he did.

''…'' Levi's eyes widened as he closed his mouth. His eyes shot up to take a good look up at the huge square window; he could see the cracks, the ceiling of Eren's room and something more. Dark red transparent liquid had divided itself evenly in the cracks, which was dripping into the black mass where Levi resided.

Levi tasted the metal liquid in his mouth, spitting it out immediately. Before he started to think about hygiene, he could feel something burn inside of his body.

_There was something awfully wrong._

* * *

**_So there is going to be a lot of plot twists, character introductions, and side pairing stuff going to happen. I don't want to rush this story so please stay by me whilst I update this shizzle lol. I have great plans for this fanfic!_**


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